Field of the Invention
The field of the invention is data processing, or, more specifically, methods, apparatus, and products for securing a server of a data center before connecting the server to a data communications network.
Description of Related Art
Security is increasingly becoming a primary concern for information technology (‘IT’) departments of enterprise-level companies as well as for smaller establishments. Centralized control of server deployments in a data center generally requires systems management techniques. Such techniques, however, require careful security planning IT personnel must ensure that newly provisioned servers in a data center cannot be managed by a ‘rogue’ management server. Because service processor of such servers may ship from the manufacturer with a known, default user account and password, special care must be taken to ensure that the first login to such a server is from a trusted systems management server. The service processors must be secured at the time of installation, before connecting the server to a network with the data center and certainly before the server is able to access the Internet. If not, the server is exposed to the possibility of a rogue software discovering the server, utilizing the default account and password settings to log in to the server, and taking control of the server. To carry out such securing of a server today requires an IT personnel member to utilize laptop to directly connect (typically a crossover CAT-5 cable for direct connection to the server) to configure each server, one by one, changing the account settings and password. Only then is the server connected to any wide area networks. Such direct connection coupled with a login is cumbersome and time consuming.